by Kelly J. Larson

With Valentine’s Day and prom season in a few months, this crispy baked coconut shrimp with spicy orange marmalade as a dipping sauce is an ideal appetizer. It’s a popular palate pleaser.

The easiest way to make this is with peeled, deveined shrimp. If not, cleaning the shrimp takes at least an hour. That is what I had in my freezer today and I enlisted help from my daughter, Hannah.

Next time, I’ll pay extra to get the ready-to-cook shrimp. It was nevertheless fun to teach her how to make this, plus she really loved it. Hannah is a fantastic sous chef.

Coconut Shrimp

• 1-1/2 pounds raw shrimp

• 5 egg whites

• 1/2 cup cornstarch

• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 24-ounce bag sweetened flaked coconut

Separate the eggs and set aside yolks for another recipe. Whisk the egg whites until they’re foamy.

Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Spray a large sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray or use a silicone lined tray to bake the shrimp.

Mix the cornstarch, salt and cayenne pepper together in a small bowl.

Put the coconut into a shallow tray.

Rinse the peeled and deveined shrimp and pat dry with paper towels.

One by one, put each shrimp through an assembly line: dredge in dry mix, then dip in egg whites, then press into the coconut.

Bake for 20 minutes.

To make the dipping sauce, add 1 tablespoon sriracha chili sauce to a small jar of orange marmalade. Heat in microwave for 1 to 2 minutes.

Plate a few coconut shrimps onto an appetizer plate with a spoonful of dipping sauce in a dip bowl.

Makes 16 small plate servings.